Privileged position

French MEP Nicole Fontaine received the red-carpet treatment when she represented the European Parliament at the hand-over of Hong Kong to China. At the British farewell formalities, she was placed on the podium ahead of the French Senate President René Monory, who is effectively number two in the French pecking order.

European Voice

9/3/97, 5:00 PM CET

Updated 4/12/14, 2:25 AM CET

Fontaine’s privileged position undoubtedly owed much to the Parliament’s decision to attend the first two hand-over ceremonies but boycott the politically sensitive third swearing-in procedure for the Chinese administration in Hong Kong because of strong doubts about China’s commitment to democracy.

So what was Fontaine doing going on a private visit to China that same weekend? The trip, which had no official status and was privately paid for, was possibly politically unwise, especially after the Parliament’s human rights sub-committee had criticised the beatings in a Chinese prison of a former recipient of its Sakharov prize.